


Surprise!

by Rarity



Category: Free!
Genre: F/M, Gen, locker room bulletin board, locker room bulletin board 10.19.2014
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-23
Updated: 2014-10-23
Packaged: 2018-02-22 08:35:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2501408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rarity/pseuds/Rarity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gou and Seijuurou have become close and Rin feels it's his brotherly obligation to confront him about it. As it turns out, Seijuurou is not the one he has to watch out for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Surprise!

**Author's Note:**

> WAAAAH I joined a cute little [fic swap](http://ficswap.tumblr.com/) group. Most of these stories are going to be short mostly gen stuff, just to get some practice in for the week. They will all be tagged 'locker room bulletin board'. This one took me far too long so the ending is a little rushed. It's been a really weird week.
> 
> My prompt this week was 'Rin is worried that Seijuurou is going to ask Gou out on a date, but it turns out that Sousuke is really the one he has to watch out for…'.
> 
> I still suck at titles.

Seijuurou rubbed his hands together in glee as he began to scan the menu in front of him. His lunch host had not yet arrived, but that didn't mean he couldn't take a sneak peek at what treasures this little restaurant had to offer, right? It was a new joint in town and having been gone at university meant he wasn't able to dine on its—no doubt splendid—grand opening. Best make up for lost time now that he was here... and being treated.

As soon as he had reached the back of the menu, Rin Matsuoka took a seat in front of him. His eyes lit up at the sight of his once-underclassman.

“Rin, my man! How have you been?”

“I've been—”

“Y'know, at first I was surprised that you invited me out. I thought, 'What in the world could Matsuoka want to speak to me about?'. But then I realized... you're looking for my expert captain advice, aren't you? So, what is it?  Too many practices? Too few? Trouble with routines? If it's about Momo, I can't help you.”

Rin's lip twitched in irritation at being cut off. “I don't wish to discuss the team at all.” Just as he was about to explain further he was interrupted again, this time by the waitress come to take their order. Seijuurou gave his with a charming smile. He ordered two entire seafood specials, the bastard. It was the most expensive thing on the menu!

“Huh, really?” He gave Rin a puzzled look before turning back to the waitress. “And just a water will do, thanks.”

After giving his order, Rin turned back to Seijuurou and nodded. “Yeah, actually. I want to talk to you about Gou.”

“Ah, Gou-kun...” Seijuurou leaned his head against his hand, sighing dreamily. His face quickly darkened in alarm. “You sound serious. Is she alright?”

“As far as I know...” Seijuurou leaned in closer to hear what Rin had to say. “The last time you were here... you and her... You spent a lot of time together. Are you two..?”

Unfortunately, when it came to actually asking the question at hand, Rin found himself tongue-tied. Seijuurou's leaned back in his chair with arms crossed, looking solemn indeed. Rin braced himself for the brotherly speech he had prepared. He of course was not going to meddle in his little sister's love life, and he knew his former captain was a decent guy who very clearly cared about Gou, but all the same, things needed to be said. Seijuurou had to know that Rin, under no circumstances, would tolerate someone hurting Gou.

But when Seijuurou opened his mouth again it was donned with a cheeky grin. “Gou-kun has been having trouble getting in touch with our team's old manager and decided to ask me for advice on how to coach her team. She's incredibly bright, as I'm sure you know, and she's organized besides... She didn't need much from me. But I guess Iwatobi's morale has been in the negatives this season. Y'know, with Nanase and Tachibana leaving and all... I'm sure things are hard for them.” That grin had morphed into a full-blown smirk. “Is that all, Big Brother?”

Rin opened his mouth. Closed it. Found interest in a stray napkin on the floor. “Yeah.”

Seijuurou wasn't finished. “Believe me, if Gou wanted to go out with me, I'd be all about it. But she's not interested. She told me that flat-out last time we spoke and a man's gotta respect that, don't he?” Rin nodded his head. The captain was a lot more chivalrous than he thought. “Plus, I'll be going into my second year of university and she has a year of high school left. Would'a been inconvenient. And anyway, she's sweet on a boy who likes her back, so that's that! Momo'll be devastated when he finds out though.” And just like that, he dropped the conversation. “Food's here! Man, this looks great!” He clasped his hands together, gave a hearty, “Let's eat!” and nearly stabbed his fork through the table.

The waitress had just finished placing their plates on the table when Rin processed everything Seijuurou said. He pulled the captain's plate out from under his nose. “What do you mean she likes a boy who likes her back?”

“E-enjoy...” the waitress said quietly, backing away from the brewing scene.

Seijuurou made a grab for his plate. “Oi, oi! I don't think that's any of your business! Gou will tell you when she's good and ready.”

Rin only tightened his grip on the plate. “Tell me or you're not eating.”

“Like hell! That's my food!”

“Yeah, that I’m paying for!”

“You know,” Seijuurou said, taking his hands away from the dish, “You can’t just focus on the goal. You need to pay attention to your surroundings, too.” Then he winked, which Rin found as obnoxious as he did puzzling. Seijuurou inclined his head to the left and Rin’s eyes followed. Gou was seated on the far end of the restaurant. Her eyes were bright, her posture relaxed. She even had her hair down which she only did for special occasions. Seated across from her was…

“ _Sousuke?_ ” Rin cried out, startling a couple seated nearby.

Seijuurou made a successful grab for his food and dug in. “I think Momo is a much better catch,” he said around a mouthful of prawns, “But I guess Sousuke _is_ taller.” His words were heard by no one. Rin had already stormed to his sister’s table and slammed his hands down, whirling on Sousuke.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Sousuke leaned away from his fuming friend and looked at Gou desperately for help. He had never seen the Matsuoka family resemblance as strong as it was now. Her face was an identical shade of angry red and both of their cheeks were puffed like birds.

“Why should he have to tell you anything?” she asked, her voice an incredible calm in contrast to her rage.

Rin balked. “He’s— he’s my—”

“He’s _my_ boyfriend.”

“Oh.” He took another step back. “Okay.”

“It was awfully rude of you to leave Mikoshiba alone like that,” Gou continued. Her face had returned to its regular complexion but she no longer spared her brother a direct look.

“Yeah.” Rin looked to Sousuke, who shrugged and mouthed, ‘Sorry’. “Okay. Enjoy your meal.”

Rin felt like he was on rewind. The shameful walk back to his table didn’t register with him and it took him a few seconds to realize that Seijuurou was speaking to him. “See?” he was saying, already working on his second plate, “I told ya it was none of your business, didn’t I?”

“What the hell just happened?” Of all the guys to worry about. He would have sooner expected one of the Iwatobi crew before Sousuke. _Sousuke._ His best friend. His dorm mate, for crying out loud! How could he not know?

Seijuurou sighed that wistful sigh again. “Sousuke’s a lucky man. Wish I’d been able to get through your thick skull like that. Gou’s the greatest.”

Rin snorted. He’d suddenly lost his appetite. “Screw you, Mikoshiba.”

“Oh yeah?” Seijuuro jutted his hand in the air and waved it around. “Waitress! Bring me another Seafood Special! Matsuoka here is payin’!”

“Oi!” Rin cried, but it was lost to Seijuurou’s bold, victorious laughter.

“I should go apologize to them,” Rin said, watching his former captain plug away at his third full meal. He had hardly touched his own food — some dish with noodles and beef, he’d forgotten what all was even in it — his stomach too knotted up with guilt and an inkling of betrayal to allow anything else.

Seijuuro nodded his head, looking wise beyond his years. “You should.”

So Rin did. Or he tried. He made a solid effort to apologize but when he stood up and started to approach them again, Gou had her fingers taut around the collar of Sousuke’s shirt and was kissing him over the table.

It wasn’t the idea of Gou dating someone that made Rin see red, really. Sure, he had a lot of lost time to make up for after years of ignoring her to focus on swimming and preteen angst, and he had come here to tell Seijuurou that neither he nor Gou were to be trifled with, but he still wasn’t that kind of a stifling older brother. Rather it was the fact that his sister and his oldest, closest friend were dating. They shared feelings for each other for god knows how long and Rin was completely oblivious. It was, frankly, weird. Rin had no idea how to handle this new information so it, like so many other emotions, expressed itself as anger.

“What the hell!?” he shouted to the annoyance of every diner around him. Seijuurou held him back by both wrists.

“Whoa! Easy there.” His soothing was met with even more resistance, as Gou heard Rin’s yell and smiled smugly against Sousuke’s lips.

Eventually, Rin’s arms went limp. He dug around in his pockets and slapped all the money on his person on the table. “I’m not sitting around to watch this,” he said and grabbed his bag.

“I think that’s too much.”

“They can keep the change.”

***

Sousuke was avoiding him.

Rin knew him well enough to call out his stalling, but then again, he apparently didn’t know him well enough to recognize that the guy was serious about his sister, so really, what _did_ he know about Sousuke?

His eyelids began to droop but no matter how tired he felt, Rin was determined to meet Sousuke as soon as he opened the door. To do what, exactly? Yell, maybe. Untangle all the bizarre knots in this situation, mostly. Work Sousuke extra hard at practice tomorrow, for sure. The practice they were both going to be exhausted for given the time. Rin frowned at the clock.

The door creaked open and nearly startled him off the bed. “What the hell, Sousuke? Don’t you knock anymore?” Rin growled, rubbing his head from where it hit the top bunk. “Ah, but why am I asking you that? You can’t even tell your best friend when you’re dating his sister.”

Sousuke sighed. “I’m sorry, Rin.”

“Sorry doesn’t explain how weird this is.” They both folded their arms across their chests, Sousuke leaning against the desk and Rin still on the bottom bunk, casting his friend a wounded glare.

“I know. I was going to tell you, but we thought, with everything else going on…”

“Oh, so you two are a ‘we’ now?” Rin snorted. It was kind of cute, if he was going to be honest, but he wanted to be disgusted instead.

“Gou and I kept in touch while you were in Australia and even after you came back. At first because we were both worried about you but eventually…” He trailed off. “You don’t think it’s weird for me, too? I’ve known her as long as I’ve known you. She’s my best friend’s little sister.”

Rin watched him carefully. There was a hint of color to his cheeks and a blazing in his eyes, something he used to see when they swam together in middle school. “So you really like her, huh?” His voice was slow, still observing the change in his old friend.

“She’s incredible. Smart, talented, passionate.” Sousuke smiled and closed his eyes. “And she really cares about you, Rin. Doubt I would have ever saw her in this light if we both weren’t so upset about you to begin with.”

“Great. So this is my fault now?” But he was smiling too, now. He stood up and nudged Sousuke’s shoulder, not noticing the wince he gave at the contact. “Alright, alright. Look, Gou can have all the secrets she wants but you gotta tell me these things, yeah? Best friends don’t keep secrets.”

“Right.” Sousuke smiled painfully. “Best friends don’t keep secrets.”


End file.
